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The server IP address is changing. It will take a few hours, perhaps as much as a day, for the new IP address to percolate.

Contact Points

AW IRC Chat
AW's amazing chat mods and the regs frequently gather at the IRC Chat. There's general discussion about writing, and opportunities to cheer each on while you write.
See Zanzjan's instructions on how to join AW Chat (hosted elsewhere so bookmark them NOW so you can use them later).

FacebookFB PageAW Facebook GroupThis is just been created; I'm still figuring it out. I'm asking people to tell me their AW Username when they sign up, so I can avoid trolls.
Y'all can post there once you join.

Email List
I've set up a small one-way only announcement list as a Google Group. Absolute Write Announcements.
Click Apply for membership to subscribe.
It's helpful if you include your AW Username.
If you want to receive the news via email, you need to set it to send all email. Only admins and mods can send or post.

Because People Have Asked

* I'm as sure as I can be that we won't lose anything, though it may take some tinkering to make things look familiar.
We have backups.
We're temporarily paying for two servers. Yes, it's an extra cost, but it's also safer.

If you want to help with defraying costs of the move, an easy way is to subscribe via PayPal. (paypal@absolutewrite.com). It doesn't matter how much or how little you send; as a Kind Benefactor, you'll not only help your fellow community members, you'll have access to benefits like a larger PM box and avatar.

* I've been asked why we're moving, and why now?

Several reasons:

Google has changed their requirements to have sites listed in search results so that only sites with https, that is sites with a certain kind of security protocol, will be listed, and sites without https will be flagged as insecure. We've been trying to schedule this for months, but it requires matching three very busy people's schedules, and some are East coast and some are West coast U.S. and all of us work.

The database that underlies AW is huge. It's just under 12 Gigabytes. That's the space for:

278,977 Threads

9,756,426 Posts

from 69,514 Members.

Our ISP isn't going to support the OS on our current server much longer; we need to upgrade to a later version. We're taking the opportunity to move to a faster virtual box, with more RAM, at the same time. I'm hoping (but can't guarantee) that we'll have even fewer outages that are not weather related.

We're going to try to rebuild the post indexes so old posts are easier to find; this is iffy, but we're going to try.

Backup Your Data

Save the following, just in case. I've never lost user data with an upgrade, but I prefer to be extra double cautious.

Login
Make sure you know your login; Username and Password.
Write them down or use a Password managing app.

Email Address

Make sure that you are checking the email for the email address in your Profile.

Click Settings

Scroll down to My Account on the left

Click Edit Email and Password to verify that you're using a current, active email address.

Copy your sig somewhere safe; you could email it to yourself. Copy it exactly; including the BB codes

Save Your Avatar

Click Settings

Scroll down to My Settings on the left

Click Edit Avatar

Right Click (Windows) or Control-Click (macOS) your Avatar and Save As ... to download your avatar to your local hard drive.

Save Your Profile Image

Click Settings

Scroll down to My Settings on the left

Click Edit Profile Picture

Right-click the image (Control-click on macOS) and Save As... to download the picture to your local hard drive.

Download Your Private Messages
Click Notifications
On the left under My Messages click Inbox
Scroll down almost to the bottom.
On the far left is a heading that says Download All Private Messages As:
You have a choice of three formats: XML | CSV | Text

XML = readable in a Web browser

CSV = Comma delimited file; intended to import into a spreadsheet

Text = plain text

I generally just download all three. I'm like that.

Save Rep Comments
There really isn't an official way to save Rep comments. This is a kludge, and it only works for the most recent comments.

Method 1:

Click Settings

Right click or Control-click (macOS) in the Rep comments area and choose Save As... from the pop-up menu.

This will create a folder called Settings - Absolute Write Water Cooler_files and a separate file called Settings - Absolute Write Water Cooler. That file, opened in a Web browser will let you see your most recent Rep comments.

Method 2:

Click Settings

From the File menu of your Web browser, choose Save Page As...

This will create a folder called Settings - Absolute Write Water Cooler_files and a separate file called Settings - Absolute Write Water Cooler. That file, opened in a Web browser will let you see your most recent Rep comments.

I know things get lost in the move (They do this EVERY year and just must forget to tell me -- Sid, Ice age), but just a note on the rep comments: do you grant us them back if they get lost? 'Cause I have, like, at least five -- a million. And if you're topping us back up, just thought I'd mention the one million mark, like.

Fallen: calling shotgun by the in-flight drink's tray and not really worried about rep comments...

I know things get lost in the move (They do this EVERY year and just must forget to tell me -- Sid, Ice age), but just a note on the rep comments: do you grant us them back if they get lost? 'Cause I have, like, at least five -- a million. And if you're topping us back up, just thought I'd mention the one million mark, like.

Fallen: calling shotgun by the in-flight drink's tray and not really worried about rep comments...

Fingers cxd all goes well I will donate again when I hit my AW anniversary which I think is in February

"You fail only if you stop writing" ~Ray Bradbury~
"Write the story you want to read" ~multiple authors~
"If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word." ~Margaret Atwood~
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." ~Maya Angelou~

Also, what about for those who don't go on facebook or twitter? (I won't, you can't make me!) Guess I'll have to bribe someone to email me when AW is back up.

If enough people are interested in an email list, I'll create one. Let me know in a Rep point if you're interested, and I'll use the Email addresses from people's AW accounts. This will be a announce only list; MacAllister and I will be the only ones sending notices, and it's not going to be much more than a We're Back notice.

ETA:

Email List
I've set up a small one-way only announcement list as a Google Group. Absolute Write Announcements. Click Apply for membership to subscribe. It's helpful if you include your AW Username.

Write the change you want to see in the world!
Writing exposition is like putting red pepper flakes on your pizza - the occasional burst adds depth and flavor, too much in a lump can burn the reader out.